The Price of Heroism
by ccferrari
Summary: Classic story of Sam, Jules, and Team One, taking place during season four when the relationship remains a secret. Read, review, and enjoy :)
1. Chapter 1

**Alrighty, so I recently had a fanfiction midlife crisis and got fed up with the decreasing quality of my writing, so I deleted most of of my stories. I've opted for quality over quantity and I'm going to try to focus on one fanfic at a time, with better writing, but probably updating less often. I'm not sure if I'll continue this story or contain it to a one shot. Depends on the reception, I guess. Anyways, enjoy!**

Jules stirred groggily, her slender hand stretching across the chest that her head also nuzzled into affectionately. Her counterpart lay awake, one arm propped under his head and the other draping over Jules, observing her peaceful slumber. He had been awake for a good twenty minutes, and somehow could not bear to move at the price of disturbing her much needed rest. She arrived at his apartment the previous night already practically asleep, exhausted after a grueling nearly two hour talk down of a protester who fought for his cause a bit two strongly and brought a gun, later taking two hostages. Sam was amazed at how persuasive Jules had been with the distraught man who clearly was in too deep and didn't know how to dig himself out of the crisis. He remained like this, enjoying her body heat and admiring her deep breaths for another five minutes before craning his neck to get a look at the clock on his bedside, knowing they should probably get up, but still unable to interrupt her dreams. "Sam," her sleepy voice interjected his thoughts, "How long have you been watching me?" she asked, eyes still closed but an adorable smile forming despite her efforts to remain serious. Sam grinned, knowing he was caught.

"Not long," he replied vaguely, squeezing her gently with the arm wrapped across her smooth back. She craned her neck, raising her eyebrows quizzically, prompting the truth from him with her expression. Sam chuckled, slowly shifting his weight to align their faces directly. "Alright," he admitted, leaning in for a smooth, feathery light kiss, "Not nearly long enough," he evoked an adorable smile to plaster her face, eyes darting downwards for a moment, and inner shy girl in her emerging. She met his eyes again, planting a peck on his nose then flinging the comforter off of her muscular legs and getting to her feet, clad in only Sam's old army shirt that reached her thigh midway. She insisted on wearing whatever pajama shirt he wore the previous night (if he wore one at all). She claimed there was something about the smell that comforted her. He didn't completely understand but didn't object considering how incredibly sexy she looked in his dirty, oversized tee. He watched as she stretched upwards and yawned, taking her hair out of a lopsided ponytail and walking around the bed and flipping on the washroom light.

"I call first shower," Jules casually claimed the comfort of warm water that he typically surrendered to her. She shut the door, turning on the water as Sam rubbed his eyes and swung his legs out of bed, throwing on sweatpants before meandering down the stairs of her quaint home to prepare breakfast. She joined him in the kitchen ten minutes later, clad in jeans and a simple black v neck, her damp hair tied back into a ponytail. "Ooh my favorite," Jules said, salivating at the pancakes steaming on a plate on the counter beside Sam who was in carefully flipping the final one. She gently got on her toes and landed a kiss on his cheek before withdrawing syrup from a cabinet. Jules loved having the freedom to eat whatever she wanted without having to worry about weight, thanks to the vigorous and extremely physical nature of her work. They were soon seated and quickly finished the golden pancakes. Jules anxiously eyed the clock, eyebrows furrowing together.

"You go ahead to work I'll shower and meet you there in twenty," Sam said, noticing the unspoken conflict, and knowing it was a good plan in order to divert any suspicions of their relationship.

When Sam arrived at the SRU Headquarters, Jules had already worked up quite a sweat on the treadmill and sent him a small smile as he walked by. "Morning," she said casually before diverting her eyes as he disappeared into the locker room.

"Hey Sammo," Spike greeted him energetically as he began to button his shirt. Sam smiled, dropping his duffel and opening his locker.

"Hey Spike. What's up?" he responded, swiftly taking off his navy v neck.

"Not much with me… But I see you got something going on," Spike said, weakly attempting to stifle a snicker while motioning to slightly faded yet still angry red welts on his back. Sam suddenly remembered with shock their enthusiastic… activities… of the previous night. He laughed it off, trying to come up with a believable lie if Spike were to persist.

"Team One; hot call. Gear up," Winnie's confidant voice announced through the loudspeakers, sirens wailing throughout the station as Sam slipped on his final tactical boot, thankful for the interrupt shooting Spike a boyish smile as they jogged out of the locker room and into the unknown.

"Winnie, what are we looking at?" Greg asked, raising his voice over the blaring of sirens radiating from SUV where he rode shotgun to Spike.

"Witness reports of a female holding a male hostage with a pocket knife on the second floor of Franklin & Daniels Enterprises," Winnie reported as the menacing SUVs pulled up at the building, unloading gear with lightning speed. Sam didn't like knives. He was perfectly fine with guns, but knives were another story. It just didn't seem logical to him that cause such catastrophic damage so easily. It's pretty irrational, and Jules teases him about it, but Sam's always just a bit more on guard during knife calls.

As Jules swiftly entered the building, walking in step with Sam under the yellow and black tape already set up by first responders, she glanced sideways at him, smiling slightly. "Boss, you and Spike set up command in a nearby room," Ed began instructing as they all jogged up the stairs to the second floor, Spike accessing the schematics on his phone and locating the vicinity of the situation. Jules and Spike branched off into an empty conference room. "Jules, Wordy, Sam, you're clearing civilians with me," Ed finished as they instantly got into formation, guns at the ready as they turned a corner, slowly nearing the spot of the incident.

"I've got some friendlies," Sam said discreetly, raising a finger to his lips then summoning four terrified employees who were cowering in a cubicle. They scurried to Jules who ushered them to the command post as the rest of the team continued onwards, beginning to hear sobbing in the distance.

"Did you guys see anything?" Spike asked the traumatized accountants who Jules just dropped off before returning to her teammates as they steadily approached the subject. One woman brushed her silky black hair behind her ear and glanced at her colleagues nervously before responding.

"A- a woman was here for- for a job interview," she gulped before continuing quickly, "Tiffany Harmon, um, she was sitting outside an office waiting for my boss to be ready for her and my colleague, Rob Irwin, walked by and she just went berserk. I- I'm not sure. Everyone ran when she started screaming with the knife," she dropped off, anxiously wiping her tear streaked face with a pantsuit sleeve.

"Thank you, that's very helpful," Spike said, "Do you have any idea how many people were in the office today?"

"Uh, eight? Including Rob. It's a Friday morning before a three day weekend; almost everyone took the day off. I think my boss was still in his office. Oh my god," she curtly broke off into frantic sobs.

"Alright," Greg interjected, placing a reassuring hand on the young woman's shoulder and gesturing towards a uniformed officer, "Nice job. This officer will help you out," he steered them out hastily, and returned to the problem at hand. "Okay team it looks like we've got an identification," looking over Spike's shoulder as he pulled up records of Tiffany Harmon and Rob Irwin.

Spike interrupted before their boss could say anything more, "Whoa Tiffany Harmon is flagged," he said with curiosity, clicking and typing quickly.

"What?" Greg said, leaning closer to the monitor as Spike reached a page of interest.

"She's the victim in an unsolved rape case," Spike said, stunned into silence. On the other end of the headsets, Wordy escorted two more employees to safety, silently going possible scenarios as the team grew increasingly close to the source of sobs and furious cries, almost able to make out the words. Ed looked at Jules out of the corner of his eye, knowing she was probably going to take this negotiation due to her obvious difference in gender compared to the other members of Team One.

"Contact the head detective for that case," Greg instructed as he began to pace, wishing desperately that there were security cameras on this floor.

"Copy," Spike responded under his breath, tapping away urgently as his teammates approached the subject.

"Eddie what's your status?" Greg asked as Wordy rejoined the group, gun at the ready as they cleared yet another row of cubicles.

"Almost there," he reported quietly, "the woman is yelling profanities, the guy is pretty silent. I can almost see them. Jules, you up for negotiating?" he offered, still focusing on the target that would soon be within his scope.

"Copy," Jules said, lowering her gun and stepping behind Sam as they continued the approach.

"Wordy you flank and try to get the civilian from the opposite office. Sam sierra two," Ed finished as the couple came into view and everyone was utterly and completely professional. A young woman stood in a gray suit, knees shaking slightly along with the knife that was unsteadily gripped by a sweaty hand. Her sleek black hair was parted down the middle, and her bright green eyes full of fury and pain. The man was slightly older, wearing a cheap black suit and dark brown hair swept backwards, beginning to bald slightly. Rather than defensively standing with his hands in the air, as most people would in this situation, he appeared quite calm with his hands at his side, but uneasy about the new presence of police which the woman had yet notice due to her position.

Noticing his eyes, the woman turned her head, expression unreadable as she saw the officers, Jules standing behind Sam who was reluctant to move any closer than the three yards they were apart, barricading Jules behind his body. "Tiffany," Jules said uneasily, watching carefully for a reaction. The unstable woman only a few years junior to Jules took a small step back from her hostage, the knife lowering slightly as she looked away from for officers. "My name's Jules," she tried again, "We're just here to help. Could you tell me what's going on."

"You can't help," she said softly, mostly talking to herself.

"Boss it'd be helpful to know something about this case," Jules said to her boss and Spike under her breath.

"I know, we're working on it, but you're doing great," Greg said with sympathy, returning a cell phone to his ear, trying to contact a detective who was apparently on vacation. Jules swallowed once more before continuing, brushing against Sam's arm gently as she moved a tiny bit closer.

"Why can't we help, Tiffany?" Jules attempted once again, her eyes pleading to help the poor woman as Wordy approached from her other side, still out of her sight. Ed nodded slightly, acknowledging the arrival.

"Because you didn't before," she yelled with exasperation, gesturing wildly with the knife, Ed and Sam both visibly stiffening.

"Tiffany, is this about the rape case…?" Jules asked carefully, knowing it was a risk to jump to such a conclusion, but knowing that it was the best chance she had at improving this negotiation. Tiffany nodded solemnly, rubbing her entire face with the free hand, sniffling slightly.

"You- you couldn't catch him. And, and I did," she said, looking up. Everyone's mouth fell open a jar, eyes gravitating towards the man who searched for a way to avert attention from himself.

"Tiffany, are you saying this is the man who raped you?" Jules persisted, taking another tiny step, nudging Sam forwards also. The woman stood straight and inched closer to her hostage and nodded slowly but unmistakably.

"Boss she's nodding," Ed reported, nearly forgetting that Greg and Spike were blind without the luxury of CCTV. Before Jules could conjure up a response to that news, tiffany acted.

"And now it's my turn to get revenge," she said, just loudly enough that everyone heard, pressing the knife to the neck of Robert Irwin, still choking back sobs that threatened to send tremors through her small body.

"Tiffany," Jules said, pushing Sam forward once again, "You don't need to do this," she pleaded, thankful that this alleged rapist was somehow smart enough not to aggravate the desperate woman any more than she already was by speaking or moving. Instead he stood completely still, expressionless and stone cold. "Tiffany we can arrest him; you did it, we can probably put him in jail for a really long time for what he did to you," Jules explained, careful not to make promises that she couldn't ensure were fulfilled, still inching forwards. Tiffany said nothing, shaking her head hastily and sniffing back more sobs as the hand knife quavered slightly a couple inches from the hostage's neck. "Tiffany," Jules persisted, "Listen to me. You don't need to do this, you can put the knife down and everything will be okay. We will arrest him. Do the right thing; you don't need to go through any more unnecessary pain," Jules finished, stepping as far as Sam would allow. At first, Tiffany said nothing.

"I've got the solution," Ed reported to their boss who was now standing behind his team, looking on from a distance, not wanting to cause more commotion by entering the scene. Spike remained in the conference attempting to reach any officer on her rape case. Jules ignored Ed's reminder, not ready to give up on the traumatized woman.

"He ruined my life," Tiffany said through sobs that racked through her petite frame. Before Jules could respond, Spike interrupted with information.

"Alright I finally reached someone of worth. There was practically no evidence; the culprit did leave DNA, but there weren't any database matches, witnesses, or clues. According to her mother, Tiffany was depressed for a few months but several weeks ago she began putting her life back together; getting job interviews and trying to put the entire ordeal behind her," Spike sputtered the information, "She also began carrying a knife everywhere for protection," he rushed to add at the last moment, explaining her weapon.

"Tiffany, I understand how much damage he caused, but your mom says that you're been getting better, putting your life back together. You don't want to throw away all they progress you've made," Jules persuaded her, the woman visibly perking up at the mention of her mother. "All you have to do is put the knife down, and we can arrest him. Alright? Just put it down and back away," Jules finished with uncertainty, brushing past Sam, who scurried back in front of her, trying to disguise his fright at the close proximity of Jules and the still potentially dangerous subject.

Tiffany whimpered, stepping back from the uncomfortable and angry looking man, and dropping the knife carelessly, turning to look at Jules for the first time. Simultaneously, Wordy and Ed moved in, Ed pressing the man against the wall and cuffing him, and Wordy, retrieving a shaken employee from the office behind the scene.

To Sam's overprotective horror, Jules pushed past him once again and enveloped Tiffany in a reassuring hug, allowing the woman to wail freely, hugging Jules tightly, as tears continued to flow.

"Boss," Spike said, now looking on.

"Yeah, Spike," Greg said after a moment, standing beside him.

"Please don't tell me she'll be going to jail," Spike said uncertainly, still watching her sob onto Jules' shoulder as Sam bagged the knife, partially listening to the conversation between Greg and Spike, partially monitoring the encounter between Jules and Tiffany, ready to act if the woman went psycho on Jules.

"We have to arrest her," Greg solemnly announced the fate that the whole team internally knew, "But the prosecutor will definitely go easy on her and she will only get some probation, if any punishment at all. Hell, she caught her own rapist," Greg remarked with awe, "that should count for something…"

That night when Jules and Sam arrived at her home, they didn't speak at all, deep in thought after the debrief, too soon to express their thoughts on the matter. Tiffany instantly recognized the man whose face had terrorized her months previously and returned in nightmares every night since, and knew she couldn't let him get away with what she did. Things ended well. It was the best outcome anyone could have hoped for. But for some indescribable reason Sam and Jules didn't feel happy as usual. And they didn't say anything except for the meaningful exchange of "I love you," when they got in bed that night, too tired to change into pajamas, simply falling under the covers, Sam's arms wrapping around Jules' slight frame easily, and drifting to sleep until the shrill alarm woke them once again, the cycle of a hero's life starting all over again.

**Well, I hope you liked it. Please pardon any typos or grammatical errors; I'm far too lazy to proofread. Please review; I love feedback. Thanks so much for reading; it means a lot to me! Until next time, cc. **


	2. Chapter 2

And then the whole team died and the world exploded and the end.

**That was my pathetic attempt at an April Fools joke. Wow, remind me to never try to be funny ever again. Anyways, here's chapter two:**

"Damn it," Jules groaned after a glance at the clock beside their bed. Blinking several moments, allowing her eyes to adjust to the light, Jules rolled her head to look at her teammate/lover/best friend who slept soundly beside her. Propping herself up on her elbow, Jules leaned closer and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, eliciting a smile to grow on his stubbly face, and his baby blue eyes to open and greet her brown eyes warmly. "We're going to be late," Jules whispered, inches from his face.

Forty five minutes later Sam sauntered into the SRU headquarters, five minutes early, and promptly entered the men's locker room, smiling slightly as heard the familiar tread of Jules' heels click down the hall.

Jules was always silently ecstatic when the team practiced hand to hand, wrestling, and boxing. She was proud to say she had been the fourth best with these skills in the police academy, and the top woman. It was also always enjoyable for the team to watch their coworkers miserably lose to the petite officer.

Jules approached the blue mat slowly, her right arm stretched across her body, a cocky grin on her face. Spike narrowed his eyes in mock seriousness, hoping to beat the surprisingly strong woman, but knowing he didn't stand a chance. Greg stood beside the mat, arms crossed as he and Ed joked about who would win. On the opposite side of the mat, Sam and Wordy chuckled softly, already pitying Spike.

"Okay, you ready?" Greg asked, the room becoming silent as Jules slipped on her other glove and Spike finished tying his shoe.

"Born ready, boss," Jules said, grinning, her eyes never leaving Spike's wary visage.

"Spike?" Ed asked, smiling at the officer's uneasiness.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Spike admitted, with a sigh, and then broke into a smile because of the excitement on the face of his female colleague. He slipped on his gloves and inched forwards.

"Alright," Ed began, his voice serious, "Only rule is nothing above the neck," but added after a apprehensive glare from Spike, "And please avoid Spike's more… delicate area," Ed finished, prompting a stifled laugh from the other officers, Jules's smile widening and her eyebrows raising as Spike gulped uncertainly. "To your corners," Ed announced jokingly since the mat was quite small. And after a moment to allow laughter to die down, he said, "Ready… Fight!"

Jules was quick to approach her opponent, arms raised offensively. Spike began to follow the example set by Jules and circled slowly, readying himself for her attack.

Raising one eyebrow, Jules grinned as she faked a punch to his shoulder then knelt down and swept her leg into his, knocking Spike right off his feet and onto his face. The team hooted and hollered, laughing at Spike's failure to avoid or anticipate her signature move. As Spike began to pick himself off the ground, grinding his teeth, Winnie came on the speaker, trying to stifle her laughs from the reception desk where she had a splendid view of the team's antics.

"Team One, hot call. Report of a gunman at 6721 Hooverdale Drive, 911 caller hung up, but it was traceable," Winnie finished as the sirens began wailing and Team One spring into action.

"Nice job," Sam told Jules, sharing a smile as they jogged to the gun cage.

Less than a minute later, the officers were speeding out of headquarters, Winnie feeding them more information as they neared the destination, "House is registered to Penelope Tiller, here's the 911 tape." After a moment, a quiet voice came on the radio, they listened intently as a high pitched voice shrieked and yelled, "Stop, put the gun away", the tape ended and the team looked at each other skeptically.

"Sounds like a child," Jules commented as they pulled up at the suburban home.

"Penelope Tiller is a single mother of two," Winnie reported, typing hurriedly. Team One quickly disembarked the vehicles and surrounded the house, Sam and Ed taking the front while Wordy and Jules took the back, leaving Spike and Greg to work on negotiating and profiling from outside.

"This is Sargent Greg Parker from the Police Strategic Response Unit," Greg began over the megaphone. "I'm going to call the house so we can talk," he continued. Wordy peered in a window from the back of the house, yet was unable to see anybody ad Jules slowly and cautiously opened the storm door, revealing the locked back door.

But before Greg could dial, the front door opened, causing Ed and Sam to raise their guns instinctively. "Oh my god don't shoot, don't shoot," a young woman squealed, holding a child no older than three on her hip. "I'm so, so sorry, my son, he called 911 because his sister was playing with a water gun," the woman anxiously explained, tugging the small hand of another child whose eyes grew wide and nearly dropped the toy gun she held with her other pudgy hand.

After a moment to realize what happened, the team laughed a bit, as Wordy and Jules returned to the front of the house.

"Alright, mam, we understand, but it's still protocol that we need to clear the home," Ed explained, "Is there anyone else in there?" he asked before entering. She shook her head no and allowed the officers to search her house.

Five minutes later the team got back into their cars, chuckling softly at the situation, relieved that nobody had been in legitimate danger. "Alright team," Greg said, "How about we just patrol for now," he prompted, receiving a joyful response from Spike who was not in the mood to be further obliterated by Jules.

"Jules and I will take North York," Sam called from the driver's seat, gaining Jules' approval of the location with a nod of the head.

"We'll go downtown," Ed said over the radio, already easing his foot on the gas pedal as Wordy smiled from the shotgun position.

"Alright," Greg began, "Spike, you can choose where we're going," Greg surrendered as Spike grinned and turned the car around.

Sam flipped off his radio transmitter and Jules followed suit, glancing at each other for a moment before heading to their designated patrolling sector. "So," Sam began as they stopped at a red light, "I got us reservations at that fancy Italian place you love for tonight," he said, turning to look at her as he finished speaking.

"Really?" Jules asked with astonishment, a giddy grin growing on her face.

"Mmhmm," Sam confirmed with a nod, his head returning to the road, where the light was still red, "6:30. That's enough time to get ready after shift ends, right?" he turned back to Jules, brow furrowed with worry.

Jules laughed, "Yeah, that's fine," their eyes met, and Jules' hand brushed against Sam's as he adjusted the heat. "It's perfect," she corrected as the light became green once again, their eyes parting, a soft smile remaining on the face of both officers.

Before Sam's foot applied any pressure to the gas, a school bus came out of seemingly nowhere, barreling through its red light, two cars swerving to the side to avoid hitting the bus that recklessly ran the red light, now swerving extremely fast down a busy road perpendicular to the road Sam and Jules are on. "Whoa," Jules said, flipping on the sirens as Sam disrupted the confused drivers ever more by turning right and following the bus which was almost a block ahead, barely staying on the three lane road, swerving all around as cars moved out of the way.

"Sarge," Jules said, turning her radio back on, "We've got a school bus driving recklessly," she reported with uncertainty, making quick eye contact with Sam who was carefully navigating the crowded road in pursuit of the out of control bus.

"What?" Greg asked in response over the radio, "A school bus?"

"Yeah, I know," Jules said, craning her neck to see the street signs they were passing quickly, "We going west on Steeles Avenue, just passed Bathurst Street," she reported as they came within fifteen feet of the bus.

"Copy that," Wordy said, "On our way."

"The driver must be incapacitated or something," Sam said remorsefully, "Not showing any signs of slowing and it's swerving all over the place," he finished. Jules visibly cringed as the front corner scraped against a guard rail on the median of the road.

"We have to slow it down somehow," Jules said, pulling out binoculars to get a better view of the passengers, "Kids look elementary school aged," she reported hopelessly.

"Boss we need to stop this before there's an accident," Sam stated, pulling up on the left side of the bus, allowing Jules a better look into the driver's seat window. She rolled down the window and carefully sat on the ledge, torso outside of the car as Sam eyed her precarious position warily.

"Careful, Jules," he warned uneasily, eyes darting from her and back to the road where cars continued to pull into the shoulder, trying to avoid the calamity waiting to happen.

"We're almost there," Ed reported, sirens distantly becoming louder as he and Wordy raced to help their comrades.

"Driver's appears to be passed out," Jules reported, craning her neck to get a view of the older Asian man who lay unmoving in the driver's seat, children screaming from behind him.

"We have to try and stop them from the front," Sam said urgently, pointing out a dilemma in front of them as she returned to her seat. Twenty or so cars were stopped at a red light ahead of them, and the bus was nearing way too quickly for the vehicles to evade the impending crash.

"Damn it," Jules muttered under her breath, "Do it," she approved, glancing in the side view mirror to see Ed and Wordy were too far to be of any help, and their other teammates were even farther, just a blue and red flashing dot on the horizon.

"Here goes nothing," Sam said under his breath as he gained even more speed, passing the rogue school bus and maneuvering the SUV in front of the bus with the help of Jules' prompts, and gradually slowed down.

A sickening noise was produced when the front of the bus made contact with the back end of the Suburban. Sam grabbed the hand of Jules as they lurched forwards, the bus struggling to continue but the SUV standing firmly in its way.

Everyone made a silent prayer that the driver's foot would fall off of the gas pedal and the bus would surrender.

Slowly, the speed visibly decreased as both vehicles grew closer to the cars that remained unable to move at the traffic light.

Sam's foot lowered on the brakes, grinding his teeth as a similar grinding noise came from the vehicles as the SUV struggled to bring itself and the heavy school bus to a stop. His hand remained intertwined with that of Jules, holding on for dear life as the cars screeched closer to the busy intersection.

The smell of burning rubber invaded the noses of Sam and Jules, their teammates talking in the radio but the messages were barely audible over the nearing sirens and the sounds of metal on metal.

Finally, the two vehicles came to a halt, and the two officers released breaths that they were unaware were being held. Simultaneously, their heads spun to face each other, grins mirrored spreading across both relieved faces. After a moment of pure amazement, they returned to the world and the voices in their radios.

"Status," Greg nearly shouted as Jules released Sam's hand and they exited their badly damaged car.

"We're good," Sam reported, taking a second to glance in front of their car. It stopped six feet from a car waiting at the endless red light. He made eye contact with Jules again, awed at their luck, before following her to the school bus.

Jules approached the main door, "Kids can someone open the door," she shouted, "It's the police, we need to help," she pleaded, hesitant to break the glass and possibly injure or scare children more than they already were traumatized or injured.

Thankfully a boy of about ten tentatively pushed the handle like he had seen the driver do so many times before, opening the door for Jules, "Thank you," she said, rushing to find a pulse on the driver. "We need EMS, now," Jules spoke quietly into the headset after determining that the pulse was quite weak and the man was probably suffering from a heart problem.

"Is anybody hurt?" Jules asked the children, kindness in her voice as the rest of Team One pulled up beside the bus. Spike rushed to place blocks under all the wheels to ensure that the bus and SUV wouldn't be going anywhere. Sam had run around to open the back door of the bus and evacuate the forty to fifty terrified children.

"Lily hit her head," a small child said, tears still flowing from her face like so many of the other children, "She's asleep," the child continued, causing Jules' heart to skip a beat. She rushed to the fifth row of seats where a little girl slumped in her chair, eyes closed. Jules carefully rotated the body of the small girl so she lay on the entire seat, keeping the neck and spine stabilized in case of a spinal injury.

She then felt for a pulse and a let out a sigh of relief when she found a strong one. "I've got one child injured and the driver needs medical attention ASAP," Jules said into the radio, glancing at Sam and Wordy who were lifting kids out of the back end of the bus and directing them to medics who arrived in what appeared to be a whole fleet of ambulances.

"Copy, we're sending some," Greg replied from his position by the police cars, deep in conversation with the Commander.

"Hey Jules," came a familiar voice from behind her.

"Hey Steve," she responded, backing away from the small girl in order to allow him some room to treat her. Glancing at the driver's seat, she was relieved to see that two medics were carrying him out, one pumping air into his lungs. About two thirds of the children had been evacuated and most of their cries had subsided.

As another paramedic arrived to help Steve, Jules politely and silently excused herself to escort more children to the back of the bus where more personnel were helping them off.

"It's okay guys, everything's okay; you're safe," she assured them, wiping a tear or two as she ushered all remaining passengers to the back of the bus and into the expectant arms of her boyfriend and Wordy, who was superb ad comforting the children. After Sam lowered the last child and pointed her towards an ambulance required to transport everyone to the hospital for legal purposes, he turned back towards the bus, and lifted one arm for Jules to hold onto as she jumped out of the bus. She blushed slightly as he did so, and they walked a few feet behind Wordy, rejoining the team.

As Sam and Jules joined the group, the entire team erupted into cheers and clapping, earning the attention of most people on scene, causing Sam and Jules to look nervously at each other, then at their feet, uneasy with the attention, yet still smiling with pride.

All of Team One, minus Wordy and Ed, both of which were on diaper duty, walked into The Goose and plopped down in a booth, exhausted and dying for a drink. After fifteen minutes or so Greg excused himself from the gathering, feeling like the awkward old guy in the group.

"I swear, she's going to be the death of me," Spike finished, talking about his mother, but concluded in the next sentence that she's awesome.

"Well I should probably get going," Jules said regretfully, having a silent conversation with Sam through eye contact.

"Aww, are you sure?" Spike whined. Jules nodded with an apologetic smile, standing up and slinging her purse over her shoulder. "See you guys tomorrow," She spoke over her shoulder, exiting swiftly, Sam's eyes not leaving her until the door closed. Thankfully, Spike was too tipsy to notice.

"Hey buddy how about I drive you home, "Sam offered, suppressing a chuckle.

Sam turned his key in the lock of Jules' unlit house, opening the door swiftly and tossing his key on what he knew to be the coffee table and dropping his duffel next to the couch. Out of nowhere Jules appeared, instantly wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his surprised lips. Soon he joined and they were kissing passionately.

"Hi," Jules said with a very uncharacteristic giggle when they had to break apart for air.

"Hi," Sam replied in a similar tone, smiling at her playfulness. After a moment of staring into her beautiful brown eyes, his hands stroking her silky auburn hair, he opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again and resolved to pull her into a warm embrace.

**Hope you liked it; please review! :)**


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